Electrical boxes are a key part of any electrical system and are used to house electrical connections to both protect the connections and provide a safety barrier in the event that a short circuit occurs at any of the electrical connections within the electrical box. Electrical boxes generally house an electrical device such as an electrical receptacle or outlet or a switching or protection device, and are formed as boxes with an interior space, a front opening into which the electrical device is installed, and one or more wiring holes which allow cables and wires to pass through either into or out of the interior space. Electrical boxes can be connected to an electrical system by splicing the device wires of the installed device with conduit wires from a conduit connecting the electrical box to the rest of the electrical system.
To boost efficiency and reduce the time needed to complete electrical wiring, it is increasingly common for electricians and contractors to employ prefabricated electrical boxes which are supplied already fastened to mounting brackets and with devices preinstalled within the electrical boxes secured within the front openings. The prefabricated electrical boxes are commonly supplied with the device wires protruding from one of the wiring holes. In theory, all that the electrician needs to do in order to install a prefabricated electrical box, is to secure the mounting bracket to a supporting structure such as between two wall studs, draw the conduit and the conduit wires to the device wires, perform the necessary splices to connect the device wires to the conduit wires, and push the spliced wires through the wiring hole and into the interior space of the electrical box. However, in practice, the wires are often damaged or cut due to being forced through relatively narrow wiring holes, and cut wires result in inoperative connections and short circuits, leading to extensive delays for troubleshooting and rewiring. To avoid damaging the wires, the electrician may be forced to disassemble the electrical box by removing the installed device in order to perform the necessary splices at the front opening, before reassembling the electrical box. However, disassembly and reassembly of the prefabricated box is time consuming and nullifies the advantages of employing prefabricated electrical boxes.
Therefore, a pressing need exists for an improved electrical box which allows the user to perform the necessary splices using a fully assembled electrical box without either disassembling the electrical box or forcing the spliced wires back into the interior space through the wiring holes.
In the present disclosure, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which the present disclosure is concerned.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate the present disclosure, no technical aspects are disclaimed and it is contemplated that the claims may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.